Geniza Lab

Legal query in the hand of Yedutun ha-Levi. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning prayer/liturgy.

Legal query addressed to Yehosef ha-Rav. Small fragment.

Legal query with responsum. In Judaeo-Arabic. Quite faded.

A very damaged fragment. The upper text block is the end of a legal query probably written by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (active in the first third of the 13th century). Too little text remains to decipher, but it seems to be dealing with a house, an in-law, and daughters. Below the query another text in a different hand, possibly the responsum, as commonly found in such documents, but the text is too damaged to read and from the few readable words it seems to be dealing with an issue regarding the government. Instead, it is probably a second legal query: הדא טלב אן... ללס{ל?}טאן... אלסאכן... ראובן... תורינו... [שכרו] כפול מן השמים. AA. ASE.

Query in Judeo-Arabic addressed to an unidentified legal authority concerning a husband's financial obligations towards his wife. The text mentions several objects including the wife's household effects and gold and silver jewelry, and the existence of three children. Undated. Recto is largely effaced and appears to be unrelated.

Legal queries addressed to Avraham Maimonides, probably in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi.

Recto: Legal query for a qāḍī in Arabic script regarding a man "known for ḥujaj" (unpaid promissory notes?), and there are several testimonies against him, and he served a man. . . (the fragment ends here). Verso: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Rudimentary spellings, especially the use of י in place of א. Sitt Ṣawāb sends a message to the addressee regarding money.

Legal query in the hand of Berakhot b. Shemuel addressed to the judge Shelomo ha-Talmid, aka Shelomo b. Natan ha-Levi. With his autograph response. Also signed by ʿAmram b. Ḥalfon ha-Levi, a second judge. The same two witnesses also signed T-S 16.200 (dated 1225 CE). In Judaeo-Arabic. This query is divided into three sub-queries. #1 concerns a marital dispute between 'Reuven' and his second wife. Reuven went to the Muslim courts and mortgaged his wife's half-dār, worth 6 dinars, against a loan of 8 dinars. For some reason, they were forced to purchase the other half of the dār. When he died, he willed the new half to his children from his first wife (also in the Muslim courts). Should the debt be repaid from the half-dār belonging to the wife or belonging to the children? The answer: Nothing may be repaid from the property of the widow. There are two additional sub-queries on verso. The same case is probably described in T-S 8J14.3 and several other fragments: see Friedman's article for complete discussion

Legal query addressed to Avraham Maimonides, with the latter's autograph responsum. NB: There is an extensive bibliography on this fragment, but it is often erroneously called MS 8254, fol. 16. See FGP under MS 8254, fol. 16.

Recto: Legal query involving partners in the royal mint whose money was stolen. In particular, when one of the partners runs away and hides so he doesn't have to pay his share. Written in Hebrew. Probably from the time of Avraham Maimuni, but not addressed to him. (Cf. T-S 20.83: an enormous legal deed dated March 12 1066 CE involving a 1000-dinar claim resulting from two partners work in the royal mint. 20.83 is another document regarding inheritance. It is not connected to this legal query. AA) NB: PGP previously incorrectly listed this document as NLI 577.5/41 (AA).

Legal query in Judaeo-Arabic. Regarding a partnership in a house and the death and inheritance of one of the partners. This is the original JA version of Saadya Gaon's responsum published in Hebrew translation in Sha'arei Zedeq, part IV, V, no. 12, p. 164. It's a direct continuation of מרגליות, הלכות א"י מן הגניזה, עמ' צד. Fםr another fragment of this responsum, from another MS see TS NS J 516. (AA)

Legal query in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu addressed to Avraham Maimonides. Regarding a man who wishes to divorce his wife and pay her ketubba "in installments" (i.e. not at all). Information from Amir Ashur via FGP.

Petition from Hibatallāh b. Bū l-Faḍl Ibn al-Shofeṭ to Moshe Maimonides. Dating: ca. 1180 CE. The sender complains concerning a part of the revenue of the house of Ibn Pinḥas in Fustat, which had been allocated to him some time before. The petition is written in a very flowery and flattering style, in which besides biblical phrases there are also some more original figures of speech. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 325 #79)

Legal query and responsum regarding joint ownership of a house. The person who holds three quarters of the house demands from the man holding one quarter to either sell his share to him or to buy his three quarters. The answer is signed by Shelomo b. Yishai ha-Nasi. In the line below, the name Faraḥ b. Yūsuf appears. Information in part from CUDL (via FGP). Needs further examination

Legal query concerning a newlywed girl who is scared of her husband who has a convulsion every time they attempt sexual intercourse. She is begging for divorce. She is still a virgin, dealing with whether a geṭ is necessary or not and what to do with the dowry payments. (Information in part from CUDL)

Legal query addressed to Maṣliaḥ Gaon. In Judaeo-Arabic. Scribed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Signed by Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo, Nathan b. Shemuel he-Ḥaver and Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Halakhic question concerning a possible excommunication over a legal dispute. Mentions a reclamation document (ורקה אלדעאוי), al-Kohen Abū l-Faraj, al-Melammed Sayyid al-Kull the cantor and Ṣadaqa. Regarding certain claims on clothing, on tamarind (kept on hand as medicine for when they fell sick), 43 dinars and 20 dirhams between husband and father of divorcee. Husband refuses to pay alimony (mezonot) to the amount of 1 dirham. (Information from CUDL and from Goitein's note card.)

Recto: Fragment cut out from a poem of Natan b. Shemuel ha-Ḥaver. In the margin is a fragment of a Judaeo-Arabic letter. Verso: Legal query in a different hand concerning a husband whose wife died, and he is claiming her possessions from her mother. See Goitein's note cards and the attached correspondence with M. A. Friedman.

Question to Muslim jurisconsults. In Arabic script. Concerning a case of inheritance: ما يقولوا سادتي الشيوخ اطال الله . . . . وتاييدهم في رجل مات . . . .The last two lines contain the names of two apparently deceased people: Isḥāq [...] and Abū ʿAlī b. Abū l-Surrī the teacher ("raḍiya l-lāhu ʿanhumā"). On verso there is a Hebrew dirge. Needs further examination.

Letter from an unknown writer, in al-Maḥalla, to Nahray b. Nissim, presumably in Fustat. The body of the letter is in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ca. 1070, based on Gil's estimate. The writer is in need of money and his son is ill. He complains that there is not enough meat in his town; perhaps he mentions this because he thinks his son needs meat to get better. There is widespread unemployment in al-Maḥalla, and traveling at this time is dangerous (ופחד הדרכים יותר). The writer also discusses something that he needs to return, perhaps money or books. The letter ends with a legal query on rabbinic usury (avaq ribbit). Apparently Nahray's letter to the writer contained the Hebrew saying, "Don't judge somebody until you are in his place," and the writer here responds with the popular Arabic saying (משל הדיוט), "The thirsty does not know what is inside of the hungry." Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #829. VMR. ASE.

Query about a debtor who had taken an oath before the Jewish court and then had recourse to a Muslim court. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 402, and from Goitein's index cards) Written by Berakhot b. Shmuel and probably addressed to Abraham Maimuni. AA